Torquay & District
Medical Society

Charlie Thompson is a fifth-year medical student at the University of Plymouth.

From 2024–26, he served as Education Lead and subsequently President of the Student Torbay Medical Society (STorMS).

Raised as a cattle farmer in rural Northern Ireland who later became a hobbyist photographer with an interest in lens optics, he found his unusual combination of experience unexpectedly well suited to specialist surgical education.

What began with sourcing the animal tissues best matched to particular surgical skills evolved into developing increasingly sophisticated training models, including an affordable binocular microscope for microsurgery simulation - a model now adopted for registrar training across the Southwest.

At Torbay Hospital, he led four nationally accredited specialist surgical conferences alongside a wider programme of practical teaching, giving local students and doctors access to experiences otherwise unavailable to them.

Spanning cardiothoracic surgery through to major trauma reconstruction, the events brought together hands-on procedural training, specialist consultant teaching, and powerful first-hand patient perspectives.

Charlie will speak about his journey creating these opportunities and the role of Torbay’s Medical Education faculty in making them possible.

He will also reflect on the support STorMS has received from the Torquay & District Medical Society over the past two years, and how collaboration between students and an engaged local faculty can create career-defining opportunities that might otherwise be unavailable.